The brightest stars
by hippiebylove
Summary: 16 years old regulus runs away from his home. He finds a shelter in his older brother's, Sirius, house. But the two haven't spoken for years. How will they get along living under the same roof?
It is one a.m. according to the clock on the kitchen table when Sirius wakes up from the sound of knocking on his door.
He fell asleep on the sofa again, surrounded by cigarettes butts and empty bottles of beer and dirty clothes he was too lazy to wash.  
He gets up reluctantly, wondering whether it's James of Remus of even Peter waiting by the other side of the door and what the hell do they want from him in the middle of the night.  
He glances at the half-opened window. It's almost full moon tonight.  
It might be moony.  
But when he opens the door, it's not one of his old friends standing in front of him.  
It's his brother. His little brother. His Regulus.  
The white of his eyes is reddish as if he had cried. His dark hair is disheveled and greasy. He carries an old black bag that once belonged to Sirius. He opens and closes his mouth like he's trying to say something, but not a single syllable managed to be heard.  
So Sirius talks first.  
"What are you doing here?" he asks, not aware to the harshness in his voice.  
"I ran away.." Regulus answers quietly.  
"You ran away?" Sirius repeats the words like an idiot.  
"Yes. I ran away from…" he sighs heavily "from home."  
"What do you mean you ran away from home? Like… I did?" Sirius tries to understand. The whole situation is just bizarre.  
"Yes! Yes, exactly like you did. Apparently you were right about these people. It is better to sleep in some lion cage than under their roof." Regulus says. Sirius blinks.  
Is this his young brother? His obedient, silent, disciplined brother? Mother's perfect boy, fathers' source of pride?  
"Why?" Sirius asks because none of this makes sense to him.  
"I don't know. I couldn't stand them anymore. Their…madness. And hatred. Couldn't bear it one more second."  
and although his words are scrappy and his voice is trembling, Sirius finally gets what Regulus is saying. For god's sake, he had spoken the exact same words the day he ran away from home, riding on his motorcycle, heading to potter's house.  
"Are you OK?" he asks Regulus, suddenly noticing how pale and thin his brother has become since he last saw him, more than a year ago.  
It was in King's cross station. They both got off the Hogwarts express, Sirius for the last time. He saw his young brother on the train platform, dragging his luggage towards Kreacher.  
He had followed Regulus with his eyes until the house elf took the young boy away from there, leaving Sirius regretting he hadn't say something to his brother. Not even "Goodbye."  
"I don't know." Regulus answers to his question.  
"I haven't slept in two days…I was just…wandering around the streets." Regulus admits and his voice is cracked in the end of the sentence.  
"I had nowhere to go."  
Sirius's heart shrinks. Regulus is barely sixteen. He's a kid.  
Yes, Sirius was the same age when he ran away. But he went directly to James. The thought of sleeping on the streets hadn't even slipped his mind. And if it wasn't James, there was always someone else; Remus, Peter, Aunt Andromeda, Lily…  
"You should have come straight to me." Sirius doesn't try to hide the anger in his voice. He made sure Regulus always has his current address, sending him owls with tiny notes tied to their legs, just for cases like that. "I am here now." Regulus says.  
He is too worn out to argue with his older brother. To tell him they haven't spoken for three years and that he is basically a stranger to him now. That he hated the idea of coming to Sirius almost as he hated the idea of coming back to his parents' house.  
He didn't shower, eat and sleep for two days. Some bearded homeless guy tried to rob him last night. A day before, when he finally found a proper bench for quick napping, two men tried to touch him.  
"Fuck, why are we still standing here?" Sirius suddenly says, aware to the fact Regulus is still on the doorstep, hardly holding himself from collapsing. "Come in."  
the younger brother goes inside the house and older one shuts the door behind him.

"Really, you can sleep in my bed. I like sleeping on the sofa anyway." Sirius says an hour later. Regulus has already taken a long shower, eaten half of Sirius fridge and made himself a cup of tea.  
"I prefer sleeping on the couch, Sirius." Regulus says.  
"Alright then. Brought you a pillow, some blankets…" Sirius stretches, releases a yawn. "Make yourself home, reg."  
"Thanks." Regulus says, releases a yawn of his own.  
"Catch some sleep, you need it." Sirius says, smiling at his younger brother. He goes to the toilet for less than two minutes, but by the time he's back Regulus is already snoring.  
He forgot what it's like watching his brother sleep. They used to sleep together all the time when they were kids. They were afraid of the darkness, or their mother or the loneliness. But when they lay next to each other, the bad feelings somehow disappeared.  
Sirius sits on the edge of the sofa, looking at Regulus. He thinks.  
They are so similar, yet so different.  
Same silky black hair, dark brown eyes, pointy nose, pale skin. Noble features, that's what their mother used to say. Pureblood.  
This crazy woman had been more beautiful than Venus herself before her madness took over on her divine appearance.  
And Regulus is truly beautiful. Long eyelashes, blushed cheeks, fleshy lips, smooth skin… delicious.  
Sirius shudders. He doesn't know where these thoughts are going to and he doesn't want to know. He fights the urge to glance at his brother one more time. He goes straight to his bed.


End file.
